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Proceedings before the Tax Tribunal begin with a taxpayer filing a petition. A petitioner must file an original and two copies of the petition with the Tax Tribunal and must file a copy of the petition with the Illinois Department of Revenue. Petitions must be filed within the time limits set by the particular tax statute at issue.

A petition must contain:

The name, address, and telephone number of the petitioner;

The name, address, telephone number, and email address of the petitioner’s attorney, if any;

The taxpayer’s tax identification number;1

A copy of the Statutory Notice at issue;

The years or periods involved;

Separately numbered paragraphs stating, in clear and concise terms, a summary of the errors of fact or law which the petitioner alleges have been made by the Department of Revenue, together with a statement of facts or law upon which the petitioner relies to establish said errors;

The relief sought by the petitioner;

The signature of the petitioner or the petitioner’s attorney;

A check or money order made payable to the Illinois Independent Tax Tribunal in the amount of $500. The fee may be waived by the Tribunal upon application by the petitioner upon a showing by the petitioner of undue hardship or an inability to pay such fee.

Petitions are not informal protests and should appear in form and substance similar to complaints filed in Illinois Circuit Courts. It is appropriate for a Petition to include a jurisdictional statement, a factual background of the taxpayer’s business particularly as it relates to the alleged errors made by the Department of Revenue, a history of any relevant tax filings and audits, and separately numbered Counts for each claim made by the Petitioner. Petitions which appear in form similar to informal protests filed with the Department of Revenue will be rejected by the Tax Tribunal.

Petitions and all other documents filed in a case are available for viewing by the public on the Tribunal’s website. Petitioners should not attach copies of original tax return documents, schedules or other attachments to a Petition or in any other filing with the Tribunal. Petitioners may also redact any attachment to a Petition or any other filing which contains any tax return information which is not relevant to any issue in a Petition.

The original and two copies of the petition, along with the $500 filing fee by check or money order, may be mailed or delivered to the Tax Tribunal at:

1 Individual taxpayers are exempt from this requirement. Individual taxpayers should not include any personal identity information in the petition, any attachment to the petition or in any subsequent filing with the Tribunal. Personal identity information should be redacted from any document filed with the Tribunal. Personal identity information includes 1) Social Security Numbers, 2) birth dates, 3) mother’s maiden names, 4) driver’s license numbers, 5) financial account numbers, and 6) debit and credit card numbers.